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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28695153">In the Case of Faust</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/makotoyuki123/pseuds/makotoyuki123'>makotoyuki123</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Time Paradox [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Faust can break 4th wall, Faust is a more cheerful Akira, Gen, Kasumi sorta lives for now, M/M, Mephisto REALLY dislikes Akechi and Loki, Multi, Mythological Tricksters, Potentially huge spoilers, short stories and ideas, tagging is tiresome, they are both unstable, they have a messed-up past</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:08:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,014</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28695153</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/makotoyuki123/pseuds/makotoyuki123</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A project relates to Time Paradox. Read the first chapter for more information.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Time Paradox [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554487</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This fic is an in-the-meanwhile type of story about Faust, the ‘you know he is there but you can’t see, hear or acknowledge him’ member of the Phantom Thieves of Heart and, if you read the latest chapter of <strong>Time Paradox</strong>, Akira’s Shadow.</p>
<p>Faust is created from various unused contents during Persona 5 development like Akira used to have Mephisto as his initial Persona, living in the same apartment as Niijima sisters and many of my ideas. His true form being Raoul is, in my headcanon, what Arsene should have been without being influenced by the reject design of Mephisto and he gains Persona(s) due to the shared existence between him and Akira; as in, you have to kill both of them <strong>at the same time</strong> in order to effectively <strong>kill</strong> Akira Kurusu, which is an advantage for being a mythological Trickster. His codename is Faust because his Persona is Mephisto itself.</p>
<p>I create this separate fic as I have a lot of ideas for both Faust and the overall <strong>Time Paradox</strong> story, which spans from Persona 3 up to the end of (current) Persona 5 saga with the supposed last arc taking place between Royal and Strikers. Most of this fic’s content are potentially spoilers so beware! I use ‘potentially’ because they may not connect to the main fic; as, you know, why must a random person that Faust saves from a Shadow be relevant to <strong>Time Paradox</strong>? However, this will become a spoiler when that person meets Akira in the real world and thanks him for Faust’s action. Of course, I will notify you all when this example <strong>does</strong> happen.</p>
<p>That being said, Faust exists in <strong>Time Paradox </strong>and the first thing he did when freed was saving the Yoshizawa sisters, which is a crucial plot detail. That’s why I uploaded the chapter in the main fic’s entry. I can assure you that Akira will not meet Faust anytime soon, not until later, even though he has the ability to walk among living humans like Teddie and Morgana, beings constructed from the other side. And no, he is not the ‘?’ character that I mention in the <strong>Update </strong>chapter. That person only appears much, much later in the plot.</p>
<p>This concludes the lengthy introduction and explanation for this fic’s existence. I will post the actual Chapter 1 later as this chapter serves as the reminder you should know before diving into <strong>In the Case of Faust</strong>. The next chapter of <strong>Time Paradox </strong>is still in process so please be patient!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Origin, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He… had no name, or rather, he could not recall it. He awoke under the scorching sun amidst a ruined city, wearing a strange suit and having a pair of giant, mechanical… wings? That was not the strangest thing on his body. Having found a muddy but barely reflecting pond, he held back a shout as his face looked like it belonged to a demon with two iris-less, crimson eyes staring back at him.</p><p>"What in the actual fuck?"</p><p>His 'lips' tried to mouth the swearing but all he saw was his jaws creaking open and close, unable to form the words yet he could still 'speak' them out. While he was still bewildered, he heard sounds of something squishy trekking from behind. It was a dog-sized pile of living Slime and it was speaking rubbish to him. When he tried to communicate with him using his limited knowledge of pet talking, it lunged forward and rammed into his torso. While it hurt little, he was alarmed at how hostile this monster was. As the Slime prepared another attack, he listened to his instinct.</p><p>"Stay away!"</p><p>In an attempt to protect himself, he waved his hands, <em>clawed</em> hands as he now noticed, and he was amazed at how ridiculously strong he was. As in, his fingers effortlessly ripped the Slime apart and sliced it into slimy pieces. Ink-like blood was dripping from his claws and he stared at them, feeling mortified and awed. A couple more encounters with (low-level) demons and he learnt how to cast spells. He had no idea how he <strong>knew</strong> these skills, they were just there in his head and automatically <strong>unlocked </strong>for him to use.</p><p>"Thunder Baptism!"</p><p>A cluster of raging lightning rained down upon a pack of Kelpies and Incubuses but it only dealt relatively light damage, as some of the latter survived the spell. He dodge a, ahem, <em>thrust</em> from one and mangled another with his hand. An Incubus started yelling and more distinctive monsters showed up. It was calling reinforcements.</p><p>"Fuck fuck fuck, I'm getting worn out!"</p><p>He barely got away from a Zionga that hit the tip of his fedora, which he unknowingly cherished. He then made a 90 degree spin to cast Pyroclastic Tempest, a skill that called out a torrent of blazing razor winds, upon the attackers. They screamed at the numerous cuts and burnt marks on their bodies before exploding. The spell worked flawlessly but it took away the last of his mental energy. He had to land on a rooftop to rest.</p><p>It was this moment he realized where he was: a part of what had been Yongen-Jaya and the rooftop he was sitting on was the attic of Café Leblanc. His eyes widened like plates as a series of flashing images rushed before him. An old guy in pink shirt and black striped apron smirked wryly at him and a short, orange haired girl appeared to be hugging him.</p><p>"No…! Where are you, Sojiro, Futaba?! Please come back!"</p><p>He frantically reached for the images but they were getting hazy and eventually were erased from his mind. He desperately clutched to the remains of the memories: his all but official father and his sister. Wait, why did he know them? Who exactly was he?! Why in God's name couldn't he remember anything else?!</p><p>"No, please, don't leave me! Come back, please!" His clawed hands reached for the empty space before him. "Tell me who I am! Please, Sojiro… Futaba…! "</p><p>Behind him, a golden butterfly watched the event in silence.</p>
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